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GARDNER, Kan. - A cat named Meow is back in the loving arms of her owners in Kansas after she'd been missing for three years.
Taylor Jezik, Meow's owner, said she and her young son Charlie never gave up hope of finding their beloved cat. Three years ago, Jezik and her family moved to a new apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas, and Meow escaped.
Jezik said for years they drove all over their old neighborhood searching for Meow. Whenever Charlie would ask about Meow and burst into tears, Jezik said they'd call shelters looking for their pet.
"We drove and searched over and over for her, put her litter box out, looked on the sides of the roads for dead cats," she said in a Facebook post. "(But) I knew deep down there was no way she could die. She was too tough to be killed. I stayed hopeful."
On June 25, Jezik and her son got some unbelievable news - Meow had been found alive.
Jezik shared a photo of a text message she received from Team Animal Found, a microchipping company, that told her to contact the Gardner Police Department.
The police department also shared the good news on Facebook and said in a post that someone had found the cat outside after a rain storm. The cat was brought to a local shelter and because she appeared to be in good health, shelter staff checked to see if she was microchipped.
Sure enough, authorities discovered the cat had a microchip and contacted the microchip company and learned the cat was the missing Meow. That's when Jezik was notified.
"Someone pinch me. This is crazy. We have (Meow) back home now, she is adjusting and snuggling. She is timid but she knows us, it's such an amazing feeling," Jezik said.
On Monday, Jezik took Meow to get a checkup with a veterinarian. She said her pet is "healthy, (has a) few new scars, fleas and worms" but overall she'll be fine.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.